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Love Affair Lyrics
There was a love affair in this building
The kind of love affair, Which every respectable building must keep as a legend
Slowly festering through an innocent by the way
Or have you heard
He was perfect except for the fact that he was an engineer And mothers prefer doctors and lawyers
Yet despite this imperfection he was clean looking and respectable looking
And you'll never find a mother who doesn't appreciate a natural man
So he grew healthy aloe vera plants by the window
Healthy teeth in his mouth
Healthy hair on his head
He grew healthy wavy brown hair on his head
The kind that babies always go for with sticky little fingers
The kind of love affair, Which every respectable building must keep as a legend
Slowly festering through an innocent by the way
Or have you heard
He was perfect except for the fact that he was an engineer And mothers prefer doctors and lawyers
And you'll never find a mother who doesn't appreciate a natural man
So he grew healthy aloe vera plants by the window
Healthy teeth in his mouth
Healthy hair on his head
He grew healthy wavy brown hair on his head
The kind that babies always go for with sticky little fingers
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What I love about the lyrics is that you're not sure exactly what the affair is etc. I mean, is the mother the mother of the man's lover, or is the MOTHER the lover? And whose is the child? Is it his, or another man's (the man who made the mother the mother).
I don't know about the child, but I reckon it's the mother who's having the affair - "you'll never find a mother who doesn't appreciate a natural man."
what i think - daughter brought home man. man was an engineer - mother didn't like that and didn't think he was good enough for daughter. man was "healthy" and "natural" - mother appreciated THAT. mother becomes attracted to man and has an affair with daughter's lover; or, man.
:]
In response to newsies234's comment, I don't think that the affair was necessarily a happy one. It wasn't that the building wanted the affair as a legend, but it was obligated to have it as a legend. And the term "respectable" (as in "every respectable building") is kind of in quotes to me. Like it doesn't make the building respectable, it just makes it home to juicy gossip. And since it's called a "love affair", it has something of an illicit connotation (to me, at least).
Anyway, all I know about this song is that there was a love affair in a building, and people are talking, and he's a good looking man, and someone's mother has some sort of role or opinion. I like this song because it's leaves so many holes. The song itself represents gossip to me. Albeit in a very catchy manner.
And I always thought it was "an innocent by-the-wayer", a by-the-wayer being someone who happened to say "by the way" a lot. Then the by-the-wayer is saying, "Have you heard?..." So perhaps it would be more appropriate to call the by-the-wayer a have-you-hearder. Um...
mmmm. Regina Spektor is so friggin amazing. I wish all her albums were released and ready for me to buy. She has such witty lyrics and great music.
Regina Spektor is amazing. I can't get enough of Soviet Kitsch. I love this song.
This song reminds me of Fiona Apple for some reason, I love it.
Corrections about the lyric
I've always tought that it was 'ware' and not 'way'... As if the news about the love affair is spreading all around the building and that it's first class-gossip around the ware. I also think that the "Have you heard? He was perfect..." is a quate from the converations at the ware.
No. It's definitely "by the way."
I think it might sound like "ware" because the word "or" is right after "way", and she kinda blends them together.
i think she says "wire" ... as in the story grows through gossip. maybe?